July 2011 - Page 3 of 16

A Timely Rap Tune

July 27, 2011July 27, 2011 Buck Banks

Issa Admits Committee’s Impotence

July 27, 2011July 27, 2011 Buck Banks

The sad truth is, the most we can do on our committee is the equivalent of a pitcher who gets tired of a batter crowding the plate. Our hearings can maybe brush him back a little.

— Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), quoted by NBC News, on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigating President Obama.

Perry a ‘Cheaper Imitation of George Bush’

July 27, 2011 Buck Banks

Perry is a cheaper imitation of George Bush … and I think Perry has really studied Bush. But Bush’s brilliance with the religious right was that he did everything behind closed doors. There were no photo-ops, there were no press releases saying I met reverend so and so today. Bush did everything through intermediaries, and so there was no public trail of him reaching out to the religious right. The irony is that here comes along Perry, the dollar-general-store version of Bush, and here he is meeting with these people in public and you start looking at the line up of the people he’s cozying up to in public and all he is doing is setting himself up for trouble later on if by some miracle he actually wins the nomination … Some of these guys are really beyond the fringe — folks who George Bush would have never been caught dead within a hundred miles of.

— Shaun Casey, a professor of Christian ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary, in The Deseret News, commenting about Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R).

Boehner Seeks to Align the Asses in His Party

July 27, 2011 Buck Banks

Get your ass in line.

— House Speaker John Boehner, quoted by Politico, telling GOP lawmakers in a closed-door meeting to behind his debt ceiling bill. He added, “I can’t do this job unless you’re behind me.”

Glenn Beck Equates Massacred Norwegian Teens with Hitler Youth

July 26, 2011 Buck Banks

There was a shooting at a political camp, which sounds a little like the Hitler youth, or, whatever. I mean, who does a camp for kids that’s all about politics. Disturbing.

— Glenn Beck, on his syndicated radio show, equating the scene of Friday’s massacre at a summer youth camp on the Norwegian island of Utøya with the Nazi Party’s youth wing.

Boehner’s Got a Problem with the ‘C’ Word

July 26, 2011July 26, 2011 Buck Banks

Boehner First Read reminds us of House Speaker John Boehner’s 60 Minutes interview with Leslie Stahl last December which revealed he knew his caucus would not let him compromise with Democrats. Or else he just can’t bring himself to pronounce, you know, c-c-c-c-com-com-comp-compost …

BOEHNER: We have to govern. That’s what we were elected to do.

STAHL: But governing means a — compromising.

BOEHNER: It means working together. It means find…

STAHL: It also means compromising.

BOEHNER: It means finding common ground.

STAHL: OK, is that compromising?

BOEHNER: I made clear I am not going to compromise on — on my principles, nor am I going to compromise …

STAHL: What are you saying?

BOEHNER: … the will of the American people.

STAHL: And you’re saying I want common ground, but I’m not going to compromise. I don’t understand that. I really don’t.

BOEHNER: When you say the — when you say the word “compromise”…

STAHL: Yeah?

BOEHNER: … a lot of Americans look up and go, “Uh-oh, they’re going to sell me out.” And so finding common ground I think makes more sense.

Bloomberg: ‘Something Profoundly Wrong in Washington’

July 26, 2011 Buck Banks

That the United States of America has come this close to defaulting on its debts — a failure that would have potentially disastrous economic consequences for us all — ought to be all the evidence anyone needs that there’s something profoundly wrong in Washington.

— New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, quoted by the New York Times.

Four in 10 Don’t Know Romney is a Mormon

July 26, 2011 Buck Banks

40%

Of Americans could correctly identify Mitt Romney as a Mormon, according to a new Public Religion Research Institute survey. But many people still don’t know President Obama’s religion either: 18% think he’s Muslim, while just 34% identify him as “Protestant” or “Christian.”

Most Trust Obama on Deficit

July 26, 2011 Buck Banks

46%

Of Americans said they trust Obama most to “make the right decisions” on the deficit while 34% said they place more faith in congressional Republicans. Regarding the debt ceiling, a virtually identical 46% leaned toward Obama and 35% chose the GOP, according to a new National Journal Congressional Connection Poll.

How to Steal an Election

July 26, 2011 Buck Banks

If you want to steal an election, the absentee box is the place to begin, and if you want to calculate the likelihood of fraud in a county, first figure the percentage of its total vote that is cast in absentia.

Month: July 2011

A Timely Rap Tune

Issa Admits Committee’s Impotence

The sad truth is, the most we can do on our committee is the equivalent of a pitcher who gets tired of a batter crowding the plate. Our hearings can maybe brush him back a little.

— Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), quoted by NBC News, on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigating President Obama.

Perry a ‘Cheaper Imitation of George Bush’

— Shaun Casey, a professor of Christian ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary, in The Deseret News, commenting about Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R).

Boehner Seeks to Align the Asses in His Party

Get your ass in line.

— House Speaker John Boehner, quoted by Politico, telling GOP lawmakers in a closed-door meeting to behind his debt ceiling bill. He added, “I can’t do this job unless you’re behind me.”

Glenn Beck Equates Massacred Norwegian Teens with Hitler Youth

There was a shooting at a political camp, which sounds a little like the Hitler youth, or, whatever. I mean, who does a camp for kids that’s all about politics. Disturbing.

— Glenn Beck, on his syndicated radio show, equating the scene of Friday’s massacre at a summer youth camp on the Norwegian island of Utøya with the Nazi Party’s youth wing.

Boehner’s Got a Problem with the ‘C’ Word

Bloomberg: ‘Something Profoundly Wrong in Washington’

That the United States of America has come this close to defaulting on its debts — a failure that would have potentially disastrous economic consequences for us all — ought to be all the evidence anyone needs that there’s something profoundly wrong in Washington.

— New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, quoted by the New York Times.

Four in 10 Don’t Know Romney is a Mormon

40%

Of Americans could correctly identify Mitt Romney as a Mormon, according to a new Public Religion Research Institute survey. But many people still don’t know President Obama’s religion either: 18% think he’s Muslim, while just 34% identify him as “Protestant” or “Christian.”

Most Trust Obama on Deficit

46%

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How to Steal an Election

If you want to steal an election, the absentee box is the place to begin, and if you want to calculate the likelihood of fraud in a county, first figure the percentage of its total vote that is cast in absentia.

— Retired Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Tom Glaze, writing in his memoir Waiting for the Cemetery Vote.

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“They’ve invested heavily in AI labs. They’ve invested heavily in data centers. So, the first family has a financial stake in this industry, and as a result, the president of the United States is compromised.”

— “Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) on Monday said President Trump will likely not heed calls from technology leaders to implement guardrails on the development of artificial intelligence because of his family’s investments in the industry,” NewsNation reports.

— Jane Haman

“We’re working through some political issues in Israel. I think we agree with them on the end state. They just have a crazy election, and that makes them a little irrational in certain regards.”

— Jared Kushner, quoted by CBS News, on the lack of progress in Gaza.

Numerati

470

Reuters has documented at least 470 targets of retribution under Trump’s leadership – from federal employees and prosecutors to universities and media outlets. The list illuminates the sweeping effort by the president and his administration to punish dissent and reshape the government.

$184 million

50%

38%

31%